From Hahnemann’s hand to your computer screen: building a digital homeopathy collection Lisa A. Mix, MLA, CA; Kathleen Cameron, MLIS See end of article for authors’ affiliations. DOI: 10.3163/1536-5050.99.1.009 The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), the web to make it accessible to a wider audience. Library holds the unique manuscript of the sixth Digitizing Hahnemann’s manuscript and edition of Samuel Hahnemann’s Organon der determining the best method of presentation on the Heilkunst, the primary text of homeopathy. The web posed several challenges. Lessons learned in the manuscript volume is Hahnemann’s own copy of the course of this project will inform future digital fifth edition of the Organon with his notes for the projects. This article discusses the historical sixth edition, handwritten throughout the volume. significance of the sixth edition of Hahnemann’s ThereisahighlevelofinterestintheOrganon Organon, its context in UCSF’s homeopathy manuscript, particularly among homeopaths. This collections, and the specifics of developing the online led to the decision to present a digital surrogate on homeopathy collection. INTRODUCTION Highlights The unique manuscript of the sixth edition of Samuel Hahnemann’s Organon der Heilkunst (Organon of the N Samuel Hahnemann’s manuscript of the sixth edition Medical Art) is a gem in the Archives & Special of the Organon der Heilkunst is of special importance Collections of the University of California, San to homeopaths because of the significant changes Francisco (UCSF), Library. The library holds Hahne- from previous editions and the eighty-year gap mann’s own copy of the fifth edition of the Organon between completion of the manuscript and publica- (the last edition published in Hahnemann’s lifetime), tion. in which he wrote notes and made revisions for the N Creating a digital homeopathy collection composed sixth edition (first published almost eighty years after of different types of physical objects required a Hahnemann’s death) [1, 2]. Hahnemann’s notes are combination of technical solutions. written in the margins and on facing pages in the fifth edition, with longer notes on paper interleaved Implications throughout the volume (Figure 1). The manuscript volume is part of the library’s extensive collection of N Preparing a digital surrogate of a complex physical historic works in homeopathy. object revealed challenges and issues that will inform Because the sixth edition of the Organon presented planning for future projects. significant changes to homeopathic practice and N Online digital objects do not necessarily reduce because it is among Hahnemann’s final professional demand for the original items. writings, homeopaths from all over the world come to N A digital collection is a work in progress that must San Francisco to study the manuscript volume. This evolve and adapt as new technologies emerge. avid user group with a high level of interest made the Organon manuscript a strong candidate for digitiza- tion and presentation on the web. The digital Organon forms the cornerstone of an online collection, launched in early 2009, of significant works in the HAHNEMANN’S ORGANON history of homeopathy ,http://www.library.ucsf AND HOMEOPATHY .edu/collections/homeopathy/.. The online collec- tion also includes a handwritten transcript of Hahne- The Organon was Hahnemann’s most significant mann’s text and revisions used by Dr. Richard Haehl work. The first edition, published in 1810 as Organon as the basis for the published German sixth edition der Rationellen Heilkunde (Organon of Rational Healing), (1921, Leipzig), as well as homeopathy pamphlets. established a new mode of medical practice: home- Digitizing Hahnemann’s manuscript and determin- opathy. It was considered ‘‘an epoch-making work’’ ing the best method of presentation on the web posed [3] and is recognized as the ‘‘Bible of Homeopathy’’ several challenges. Lessons learned in the course of [4–6]. this project have better equipped library staff to The Organon put Hahnemann at odds with the undertake future digitization projects with rare and medical establishment in Europe, as homeopathy unique materials. This article discusses the historical (unlike other alternative medical systems in use at significance of the sixth edition of Hahnemann’s that time) cannot be practiced in tandem with Organon, its context in UCSF’s homeopathy collec- allopathic medicine. Further, Hahnemann’s assertion tions, and the specifics of developing the online that physicians should prepare their own remedies homeopathy collection. angered pharmacists and apothecaries [7]. J Med Libr Assoc 99(1) January 2011 51 Mix and Cameron Figure 1 controversial well into the twentieth century. In this One of Hahnemann’s handwritten notes edition, Hahnemann revised his thinking on the nature of disease, homeopathic concepts such as the ‘‘vital force,’’ and methods of administering drugs [5, 7, 8]. Arguably, the most important change was the introduction, in section 270, of drug potencies based on a 1:50,000 dilution ratio and the ‘‘corresponding changes in dosage and administration’’ [5]. This represented a major shift in instructions on potency and administration given in the fifth edition [4, 5]. The new potencies came to be called ‘‘LM potencies’’ (by Rudolf Flury in the 1940s) and ‘‘Q potencies’’ (by Jost Kuenzli in 1960). For decades after the publication of the sixth edition (in 1921), many homeopaths ignored the LM potencies ‘‘on the grounds that the authentic- ity of the directions given in the edition of the Organon published by Richard Haehl in 1921 was in doubt’’ [5]. Haehl did not mention the new potencies in his introduction to the sixth edition, perhaps to de- emphasize them [5]. The sixth edition of the Organon was not published until 1921, nearly eighty years after Hahnemann completed it [1]. During those eight decades, homeop- athy continued to develop without the new concepts that Hahnemann presented in his final work. Home- opathy practice in the United States, which flourished and expanded in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, was based on the fifth edition [5]. Hahnemann’s manuscript Accounts differ as to the reasons for the long delay in publishing the sixth edition. Upon Hahnemann’s death, his papers, casebooks, and unpublished writ- ings, including the manuscript for the Organon, became the property of his widow, Me´lanie, who intended to bring the sixth edition to publication at a later time. She only made the existence of Hahne- Hahnemann revised the Organon five times, with mann’s manuscript known publicly when false sixth each edition refining methods and adding knowledge editions began to appear [8]. Arthur Lutze published gained from his homeopathic practice and research. what purported to be the sixth edition in 1865 [10], Beginning with the second edition in 1819, the title was and Me´lanie Hahnemann was successful in having it changed to Organon der Heilkunst (Organon of the Medical withdrawn from publication due to its inaccuracy [8] Art). The fifth edition, published in 1833, was the last (Table 1). edition published during Hahnemann’s lifetime [8]. Me´lanie Hahnemann’s negotiations with various homeopaths in Germany, England, and North Amer- The sixth edition ica to publish the sixth edition did not come to fruition [8, 9]. In his biography of Hahnemann, Haehl Hahnemann completed his work on the sixth edition wrote of Me´lanie Hahnemann’s ‘‘craftiness’’ in her in 1842, while living and practicing in Paris with his negotiations concerning the Organon [9]. According to second wife, Me´lanie, whom he had married in 1835 some accounts, Me´lanie Hahnemann, and later, her [7]. In February 1842, he wrote to his publisher, ‘‘After heirs, ‘‘jealously guarded’’ the manuscript, in hopes of 18 months of work I have now finished the 6th edition some personal financial gain [3]. of my Organon’’ [4, 5, 8, 9]. Hahnemann was unable to In one of the few sympathetic portrayals of Me´lanie bring the book to publication before his death in July Hahnemann’s motives, historian Rima Handley con- 1843. The tangible result of Hahnemann’s work is the tends that Me´lanie Hahnemann sought to protect her manuscript volume that now resides in the UCSF late husband’s reputation. Knowing that elements of Library. the sixth edition (such as the new potencies) would be Much has been written about the significance of the controversial, Me´lanie Hahnemann wanted to wait sixth edition of the Organon. It contained changes to until the time was right to publish it and to oversee homeopathic practice that would have caused a stir had the production herself to ensure that the text was the book been published when it was written and were accurate [7]. 52 J Med Libr Assoc 99(1) January 2011 Building a digital homeopathy collection Table 1 Figure 2 History of the manuscript of the sixth edition of the Organon Cover of the transcript copy 1842, February Samuel Hahneman completes work on the sixth edition of the Organon der Heilkunst. 1843, July 2 Hahnemann dies in Paris. His widow, Me´lanie, becomes the custodian of his professional writings. 1843–1865 Me´lanie Hahnemann has a transcript copy made of Hahnemann’s manuscript for the sixth edition of the Organon. 1865 Arthur Lutze publishes a purported sixth edition. Me´lanie Hahnemann takes action to have it withdrawn from publication due to its inaccuracy. 1865–1878 Various homeopaths in Europe and North America negotiate with Me´lanie Hahnemann to bring the sixth edition to publication; none are successful. 1870–1871 Samuel Hahnemann’s manuscripts and casebooks are moved to the home of Karl von Bo¨nninghausen, in Westphalia, for safekeeping during the Franco-Prussian War. 1878 Me´lanie Hahnemann dies in Paris. The von Bo¨nninghausen family takes over negotiations regarding Hahnemann’s manuscripts, including the sixth edition of the Organon. 1897–1906 Richard Haehl approaches the von Bo¨nninghausens several times to negotiate publication of the sixth edition; he is unsuccessful.